Feigned? Lumian moved his right eyebrow, as if he heard fate's ruthless mockery of Charlie.
Charlie gave up his fragile principles, slept with Mrs. Alice for a few days, got into a life-threatening lawsuit, lost his job as a trainee waiter, and got only a fake diamond necklace?
For some reason, Lumian suddenly felt the urge not to just give in to fate.
Although it wasn't his thing, it made him feel a little empathetic.
I'll go to your fate
If you mock me, I will come back to ridicule and provoke back!
At this moment, Lumian vaguely grasped another rule of playing the role of "provocateur", but it was still crude and inaccurate.
He looked at Charlie and asked thoughtfully:
"Do you think Mrs. Alice deceived you, or did the pawnshop people see you down and were unable to identify the authenticity of the necklace, and deliberately found such a reason to keep the price to the lowest level?"
"I, I don't know." Charlie was extremely dazed and in pain.
After a pause, he added with difficulty:
"I suspect it's Mrs. Alice, you see, there are so many people who come here to mortgage, and the appraiser handles dozens or hundreds of things every day, most of them are valuables, it's impossible to just lie to me, right?
"She, how can she ......"
Charlie couldn't go on.
Pawn shops are not allowed to deceive everyone equally, how much price can be pressed, and the more expensive items will be pressed? Lumian scolded and laughed:
"Why not?
"Many rich people don't get rich by kindness and hard work, they can deceive you with fakes, why give them real?
"Maybe Mrs. Alice is such a rich person, or even not so rich, who lies to young people like you by staying at the White Swan Hotel."
Lumian did not deny all rich people, because in that group, a large part of the people did make a fortune by talent, talent, hard work, and opportunity, for example, Auror.
After being teased by him for a couple of words, Charlie's facial muscles were obviously distorted.
He said to himself indignantly:
"Yes, during this time, Mrs. Alice never invited me to a big meal, she let me go to the room service at seven or eight o'clock in the evening......"
You are really easy to deceive, are you really a Lim person? Lumian couldn't help but raise his hand to cover his face.
He then stood up and said:
"Get that necklace back, let's go to another pawnshop to see.
"What if it's true?"
Charlie was stunned for a moment and said:
"Okay, okay!"
He was not so willing.
Lumian advised again:
"Pay attention to the check, don't let them change the necklace."
"Hmm." Charlie tried to cheer up, "I was looking at that necklace every day some time ago and remembered every detail of it!"
After getting the diamond necklace back, Lumian accompanied Charlie to find two other pawn shops in the observatory area.
The identification result was the same as before, the necklace was fake and could only be used as 11 to 15 Felkin.
Charlie became more and more frustrated and more and more collapsed.
Lumian glanced at him and said with relief:
"At least you can be a dozen Felkins, enough for you to last for more than a week, and have spare money to go to the café on White Coat Street to invite the waiters to drink and let them introduce new jobs."
Charlie counted the rent, it cost about 1 Ferkin a day, and it would be a little less if he didn't go to the speakeasy for a drink.
"yes......" Charlie sighed.
After being extremely disappointed and accepting the reality, he felt that there was still hope in life.
Lumian thought for a moment and said:
"Other possibilities cannot be ruled out, for example, the pawnshop here has private contact and communication, specializing in deceiving you to people who are not well dressed and have mortgaged valuables without corresponding invoices, do you want to take the necklace to a special jewelry store for identification?"
"That will pay a fee." Charlie showed a puzzled expression.
If it is fake, then his small assets may have to shrink by one-third to half.
Lumian sighed and said:
"You give me the diamond necklace, and I will help you find a friend to appraise it, the kind that doesn't charge.
"You should still have some money on you to get through today, right?"
"I still have 2.6 Felkin." Charlie handed the diamond necklace to Lumian with expectant eyes.
Lumian said with a smile as he put away the necklace:
"Aren't you worried that the identification is true, but I will give you a fake one, tell you that there is no problem with those pawnshops?"
"......" Charlie's expression stiffened again.
After a second, he exhaled and said:
"I believe you, and I already think it's fake."
Lumian waved his hand, said goodbye to Charlie, and walked towards Purgatory Square.
…………
Near the catacombs, Aosta. Trul wore a black robe with a hood, facing the campfire, and sat in his old position.
"Aren't you going to change places?" Lumian walked over and asked amusedly.
Aosta smiled:
"My divination and interpretation have a certain degree of accuracy, many people have already introduced friends over, if I change places, won't I lose the accumulated customers? That's all Felkin!"
"What do you mean by accumulated customers? He is obviously a fool who has accumulated it." Lumian said half-jokingly, half-mockingly.
Aosta did not dare to refute.
Lumian immediately asked:
"I have something to ask Mr. K, how can I contact him?"
It turns out you didn't come to me...... Aosta breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly:
"Those who have attended the meeting can go directly to the headquarters of Psychic magazine, which is the building where we met, 19 Scheer Street, and knock on the door of room 103 in the rhythm of three long, two short and one long, and then someone will take you to Mr. K.
"If you don't want to go in person, you can send a letter to Room 103, 19 Scheer Street, Boulevard, and the recipient is Guillaume. Pierre."
What a fake pseudonym...... The rhythm of knocking on the door is different from the rhythm of knocking before a party...... Mr. K didn't even tell me this, did he think Aosta would say it? Lumian nodded, said goodbye to Aosta, and returned to the ground.
As he passed the entrance to the catacombs, he saw a group of visitors holding lit white candles and following the caretaker through the naturally formed arch into the "Empire of the Dead".
Retracting his gaze, Lumian went all the way out and arrived at No. 19 Scheer Street in the Boulevard District by public carriage.
He lowered his peaked hat and knocked on the door of room 103 in a rhythm of three long, two short and one long.
With a squeak, the dark red wooden door opened.
What appeared in front of Lumian was a young man with a handsome face, brown hair, and an artist-like appearance.
He looked at Lumian with dark brown eyes for two seconds:
"Who are you looking for?"
"I'm Shire, and I have something to do with Mr. K." Lumian said bluntly.
The young man tilted his head slightly, as if he was listening to a small voice.
Soon, he said to Lumian:
"You follow me."
The young man walked all the way to the side of the room with a rather classical style and opened the secret door hidden in the dressing room.
There are stairs leading to the ground, and the walls on either side are inlaid with gas sconces enclosed by a black grid.
Lumian went into the basement and walked through a short corridor to a fairly empty room.
He suspected that there were other exits here, even leading to an area of Underground Trier.
At this time, Mr. K was sitting on a red back chair, his face hidden in the shadow brought by the big hood.
The convener of the party looked at Lumian without speaking, bringing a terrifying sense of oppression.
Lumian pressed his peaked cap and said with a smile:
"Good morning, Mr. K, I have something I want to ask you for help.
"It's up to you to decide what price I need to pay."
Mr. K was silent for a few seconds and asked in a low hoarse voice:
"The Stinger Gang knows that you killed Magget?"
Sure enough...... Lumian was not surprised at all that Mr. K had some of his information.
When he attended the party, he deliberately covered his face with a strap to restore the state he was in when he killed Magget, in order to let Mr. K know about it, so as to show his value and more impulsive personality.
And this can also "win" Mr. K's trust.
Lumian shook his head:
"It's a different problem......"
He immediately explained how he knew Charlie and how he helped him get out of the predicament, but Suzanne. Matisse hated it, how could he almost be killed by that strange creature, but fortunately, the official extraordinary person arrived in time and told the matter as it was, without a single lie, but not many details were mentioned.
This corroborates the information he wanted to buy at the party.
"You want to seek protection?" Mr. K listened quietly and asked in a low voice.
Bless? Do you think too highly of yourself? A more accurate word should be protection! Lumian muttered a few words silently, and nodded solemnly:
"Yes."
Mr. K said in a hoarse voice:
"It should be a soul-like creature, very much like an evil spirit, under normal circumstances, as long as you move out of the market area, it will no longer be able to affect you, but the official extraordinary person has obviously set his sights on this matter, if you move away now, you are likely to be suspected, and if Suzanne. Matisse remembers you and even marks you, then you can be attacked anywhere, and many abilities can exceed the distance limit, and you don't need it to really leave the 'territory'."
No wonder neither of those ladies suggested I move...... Lumian nodded thoughtfully:
"Then what should I do?"
Mr. K said slowly:
"I can provide some protection, but you need to do something for me."
"What's the matter?" Lumian asked very "urgently".
Mr. K clasped his hands in front of him and said:
"Join any gang in the market area and become the leader."
The organization behind Mr. K wants to indirectly control the market area? Lumian replied without hesitation:
"No problem!"
Mr. K nodded slowly and held his left index finger with his right hand.
Immediately afterwards, he pulled hard and abruptly tore off that finger, revealing the bloody wound and white bones.
Just seeing it, Lumian felt a very painful feeling.
Amazingly, neither Mr. K's wound nor that finger oozed blood, they just lingered on the edges, twisted, shrunk, and gradually "healed".
"Bring it with you, it can help you at critical times." Mr. K threw the severed finger at Lumian.
At the wound on his left palm where he lacked a finger, the flesh and blood were wriggling violently, as if a new one was about to grow.
(End of this chapter)